CHAPTER THREE

IN HIS MULTIPLICATION AND INCREASE

Scripture Reading: John 12:24; Luke 12:50; Rom. 8:3; Eph. 2:15; 1 Pet. 3:18; 1:3; 1 Cor. 12:12, 27; 10:17; John 3:30

OUTLINE

1. As the divine grain of wheat (John 12:24) He being constrained in the shell of His flesh-Luke 12:50.
2. Through His all-inclusive death He dying in His fleshly shell-Rom. 8:3; Eph. 2:15.
3. While He was dying in His fleshly shell, He growing in His divine life and entering into resurrection-1 Pet. 3:18.
4. In His resurrection His divine life bearing fruit and multiplying into countless grains-1 Pet. 1:3; John 12:24.
5. These countless grains being His many members which constitute His eternal, mystical Body-1 Cor. 12:12, 27; 10:17.
6. This mystical Body being His eternal, boundless increase-John 3:30.

This message is high, deep, and mysterious. We may say that this is the highest, deepest, and most mysterious truth in the Bible. Therefore, we need to calm down our entire being and allow the Lord to operate in every way in our spirit that we may be enlightened in our understanding and may have a sober mind to enter into this profound truth.

A HISTORY OF THE UNLOCKING OF THE BIBLICAL TRUTHS

The Bible was completed at the end of the first century when the writing of Revelation was finished. However, up to now, the believers’ exposition and knowledge of the Bible have not reached the final point. Of course, as early as the second century, some great Bible expositors, who in church history are called the church fathers, had already interpreted a great deal concerning the Bible. From that time until now, in every age there have been many who have studied and learned the biblical truths. History shows us that this study or learning is not individual but corporate, involving all the believers, and it is also progressive, becoming clearer century by century. Of course, from A.D. 570, after the papal system had fully become established, the Bible was locked up for ten centuries. That period of time is referred to in history as the Dark Ages. For one thousand years, human society was in darkness because the Bible had been sealed.

Thereafter, Martin Luther and some of his contemporaries rose up to bring in the Reformation, and risking their lives, they opened the closed Bible. Moreover, printing was invented at that time, so the spreading of the Bible no longer depended on copying by hand but on printing. Thus the Bible was released from its imprisonment and could be distributed in large quantities. However, at that time the contents of the Bible were not very open, and people’s understanding of the Bible was very limited. Thus the Bible seemed to remain a sealed book.

From the Reformation in the time of Martin Luther, throughout the centuries one Bible expositor after another was raised up to unravel some of the biblical truths. However, the degree of the unraveling was very limited. This situation lasted for about four centuries, beginning from the time of Luther, through the time of Zinzendorf, and proceeding to the previous century, the nineteenth century. In the 1820s, the Lord raised up the Brethren in England. Once they were raised up, the light of the truths flooded like a waterfall. From that time onward, the Bible was formally opened to us. We thank and praise the Lord for this!
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